I get a lot of incense. The only incense I like is in nuit de noel where its v gentle. Rien's incense is very burn-y, hot and dry. There is an animal note. I think it's civet. This frag. is like being trapped in a garage while someone in cracked leather revs a motorbike. That does give way to rose and powder, which is weird.I was looking for a musk. I prefer musc nomade or kiehl's musk.This is worth a try if you like demeter or diptyque or passage d'enfer. It has that austere, asexual, I'm-so-cool thing going on.Do not blind buy this.

Spent a lovely hour or so with the SA in the Marais shop. This one right pulled me in right away and I walked out with a bottle. Rien is definitely not "rien" as others have said. To me it is initially very green and reminiscent of much of the sillage of the original CD Jules which my grandfather wore in the 80's. He wore a big black leather jacket and the smell of that leather and Jules' bracing vetyver fougere slap is very much what Rien is about. It's BIG. It also shares DNA with Lancome's original Magie Noire and Musc Tonkin of Parfumerie Generale. You see where this is going? There's a very strong 80's vibe to this one and unless you have the context (either by having worn these scents yourself or been around them way back when , or by having studied them) you are going to have a difficult time appreciating this scent. It's absolutely not an easy crowd-pleaser and does not beckon to be loved and snuggled up against. Think more of a punk rock, pointy leather boot and anti-establishment vibe, but in a very polished manner. Here's the thing: It works in Paris. Particularly in Paris winter. Melds beautifully with cold damp air, coats and scarves and layers of cashmere. And , even, cigarette smoke. It needs to be worn by someone who is very comfortable in their own skin and makes very little apologies. There is a total drop dead sexiness to it, but only in small doses and in the right context. Angelica Huston could rock this baby. I cannot wear it to work, and back home in northern California it doesn't quite *fit*. But I love it in small doses.

Rien, aka "Dorian Gray" is the last scent in my Etat Libre d'Orange Smell-A-Thon and I am getting weary of their nonsensical marketing material. Here is an extract from their description of "Rien": "Rien is a second skin perfume, a perfume that clings to the body and perseveres in the mind. Like venial sin on the verge of becoming mortal, irresistable and resolutely pervasive".

Whatever. In case you are wondering what this smells like in plain English, and despite the laundry list of official notes below, Rien smells like loose body powder for ladies, ie. the kind that comes with a powder puff. I sniffed it all the way to the end and the whole time it smelled like uninteresting body powder that Estee Lauder might have produced in the 1950's. I could tell that they added aldehydes to try and give it a sense of luxuriousness but that was overpowered by the strong smell of powder.

Similar to Dorian Gray but far outclassing it in terms of complexity and beauty is Le Labo's Aldehyde 44 and Chanel No. 5.

If you like the old-fashioned, classic perfumes, check this one out. Otherwise, don't. It is the strongest of their fragrances, despite its name of "Nothing". Notes: blackcurrant, blond suede, vanilla/opium accord in drydown.